The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO) has made a bespoke recording using two of Sir Elton John’s most famous songs to accompany the new freestyle test of triple Olympian Richard Davison.

 

Dressage freestyle expert Joost Peters, from Holland, was commissioned to arrange the programme, which has been designed for Davison’s 2012 Olympic hope, the nine-year-old gelding Artemis (pictured). Entitled “Artemis in Motion”, it features Can you feel the love tonight and I’m still standing with the internationally-recognised Clark Rundell conducting 70 musicians.

 

Davison, who was Britain’s team captain at the recent Olympics, said: “I still can’t believe it. To have the musical genius of Elton John and the RLPO behind our freestyle is mind-blowing.”

 

The music for freestyles of the world’s leading riders has become increasingly sophisticated, but this is the first time a British rider has gone to these lengths. The project was the brainchild of Artemis’s joint owner, the Countess of Derby, whose husband is the president of the RLPO.

 

Davison is planning to give his first public rehearsal at the Your Horse Live exhibition at the National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh, on 8 November and hopes to unveil the finished article at Olympia on 17 December.

 

The Foundation for Sport and the Arts provided valuable financial support.